Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (born July 30, 1940), is a British entrepreneur and inventor of, among other things, the world's first pocket calculator, in 1962 and the beloved ZX Spectrum computer in 1982. A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... An entrepreneur -derived from the French words entre (ie: enter) and prendre(ie: take)- is, in its most general sense, a person who creates or starts a new project, opportunity, or venture. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... A basic arithmetic calculator. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a small home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Sir Clive Sinclair meets young inventors in Bristol (England) in 1992.

Born near Richmond upon Thames, Sinclair was fascinated from his teenage years by electronics. In 1961 he started his own company, Sinclair Radionics Ltd, after spending several years as assistant editor for Practical Wireless and Instrument Practice. Download high resolution version (600x722, 95 KB)Sir Clive Sinclair meets young inventors in Bristol (England) in 1992. ... Download high resolution version (600x722, 95 KB)Sir Clive Sinclair meets young inventors in Bristol (England) in 1992. ... Richmond is a suburb in southwest London, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Sinclair Radionics Ltd was founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England on 25 July 1961. ...

Sinclair Radionics moved to Cambridge in 1967. Their most successful products were the Sinclair Microvision, a miniature television set launched in 1966 and the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator, the Sinclair Executive, introduced in August, 1972. In 1975, Sinclair's Black Watch - a poorly designed digital watch - proved a commercial disaster, forcing the company to accept state funding and management through the National Enterprise Board. This did not prove a happy experience for Sinclair, who set up a "rival" company, Science of Cambridge, over which he had exclusive control. He left Sinclair Radionics in 1979. The company was subsequently renamed Sinclair Electronics and thereafter rechristened Thandar; it continues in existence to this day, as Thurlby Thandar Instruments (http://www.tti-test.com). This article is about Cambridge, England; see also other places called Cambridge. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... A basic arithmetic calculator. ... The Sinclair Executive was Clive Sinclairs first venture into the pocket calculator market. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a government body set up in the United Kingdom in 1975 to implement the Wilson Labour governments objective of extending public ownership of industry. ... Sinclair Research Ltd was a home computer company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Science of Cambridge achieved a milestone in 1978 with the launch of the MK 14 (Microcomputer Kit 14), a tiny hobbyist's computer with a 256 byte memory and calculator style display. Its success convinced Sinclair that there was a potentially lucrative home computer market waiting to be tapped and in 1980 he founded Sinclair Computers, which was renamed to well-known Sinclair Research in 1981. 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The tower of a personal computer (specifically a Power Mac G5). ... This article refers to the unit of binary information. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Sinclair Research Ltd was a home computer company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Through this company, he came to widespread public attention in the early 1980s, first with the ZX80, the world's smallest and cheapest home computer at the time of launch (January 1980). This successful design, based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, was followed in March 1981 by the ZX81, and in April 1982 by the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, a cheap home computer. Both were phenomenally successful, selling millions of units. In 1984, Sinclair unveiled the Sinclair QL computer, based on a 32-bit Motorola 68008 microprocessor. The QL was aimed at the business market but was not nearly as successful as the earlier computers, selling around 100,000 units. It did have one wholly unexpected influence on today's computer industry: Linus Torvalds, of Linux fame, learned advanced programming on an imported QL. Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... The Sinclair ZX80 was a home computer brought to market in 1980 by Sinclair Research. ... The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Zilog from 1976 onwards. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sinclair ZX81 home computer, released by Sinclair Research in 1981, was the followup to the companys ZX80. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a small home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research. ... The Sinclair QL, QL for Quantum Leap, was a personal computer system launched by Sinclair Research in January, 1984. ... The Motorola 68000 is a CISC microprocessor, the first member of a successful family of microprocessors from Motorola, which were all mostly software compatible. ... Linus Torvalds Linus Benedict Torvalds (born December 28, 1969) began the development of Linux, an operating system kernel, and today acts as the project coordinator (or Benevolent Dictator for Life). ... Tux, a penguin, is the official Linux mascot. ...

Following several years of development, Sinclair surprised the world in 1985 with the launch of the Sinclair C5, a three-wheeled electric vehicle. A financial disaster, it forced Sinclair Research to sell its microcomputer division and brand name to Amstrad. A Sinclair C5 Launched in Great Britain on 10 January 1985, the Sinclair C5 was a three-wheeled personal transport electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair. ... An electric vehicle is a vehicle that is propelled by electric motors. ... Amstrad Consumer Electronics plc, usually known as Amstrad, is a company formed in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the UK, and based in Brentwood in Essex, England. ...

Sinclair Research subsequently became a "holding company" for Sir Clive's development projects. The company continued to work on a variety of products, including electric vehicles, computer memory technology and satellite receivers. In 1988, under the name of Cambridge Computer, Sinclair launched a portable computer, the Z88. This was an A4-sized microcomputer again based on the Z80, featuring built-in applications, a full-sized rubber-key keyboard, and an 80-column multi-line contrast-adjustable LCD. 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Cambridge Z88 was an A4-size, lightweight, portable Z80-based computer with a built-in combined word processing/spreadsheet/database application called Pipedream, along with several other apps/utilities, such as a Z80-version of BBC BASIC. Despite the lightness of the machine, its construction was surprisingly robust, including... ISO 216 specifies international standard (ISO) paper sizes, used in most countries in the world today. ... Reflective twisted nematic liquid crystal display. ...

Sinclair produced a variety of electric vehicles between 1992 and the present, with varying degrees of commercial success. These included the Zeta range of electric propulsion units for ordinary pedal bicycles (1992-2000), the Zike electric bicycle (1994), the SeaScooter underwater propulsion unit (2002) and the Wheelchair Drive Unit (also 2002) - the latter two marketed through US-based companies.

In recent years Sinclair has become a keen poker player and appeared in the first three seasons of the Late Night Poker TV series. He won the first season final of the spin-off Celebrity Poker Club show, defeating Keith Allen. Late Night Poker is a British television show in which Poker players, mostly professionals, compete in a short series of No-Limit Texas Holdem tournament games for a prize of approximately £50,000. ... Keith Allen (born 2 September 1953 in Swansea, Wales) is a British comedian, actor, singer and writer. ...

See also

• Sinclair Radionics Ltd
• Sinclair Research Ltd

Sinclair Radionics Ltd was founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England on 25 July 1961. ... Sinclair Research Ltd was a home computer company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England. ...

External links

• Sir Clive Sinclair (http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/sinclair/sinclair.htm) – A comprehensive archive of articles; at Chris Owen's website Planet Sinclair, hosted by NVG computer club, Norway
  • Biographical information
  • Sinclair's Companies
  • Speeches & Interviews
• Sinclair bows out (http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/051/sincbow.htm) – By John Gilbert, Sinclair User, Issue 51, June 1986
• 'Move over Segway, I'm planning the C6' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3125341.stm) – By Jonathan Duffy, BBC News Online, 5 August 2003